Laurie May Steps Down as Co-President of Elevation Pictures
Laurie May is stepping down as co-President of Elevation Pictures, the Canadian independent distributor she helped launch into the top tier of the country's releasing landscape. The news lands on 18 August 2026, just weeks before the company she co-founded takes 14 films to the 51st Toronto International Film Festival (Deadline).
May's exit closes a thirteen-year chapter. Elevation was founded in 2013 during the Toronto International Film Festival by Black Bear's Teddy Schwarzman, with May — a veteran distribution executive and co-founder of the earlier Canadian distributor Maple Pictures — brought in to run the operation alongside co-President Noah Segal (Deadline). Over the years that followed, Elevation handled the Canadian releases of The Imitation Game, Room, Moonlight, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Backrooms and Marty Supreme, among others. The company's films have won six Academy Awards (Elevation Pictures).
The distributor's most recent commercial success is Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie, a Spin Master co-production with Paramount that Elevation released in Canada and which has grossed north of $70 million worldwide (Deadline). That figure is global box office — the total taken at ticket counters across every market the film has played.
Schwarzman, who sits on Elevation's board as a representative of its investor Black Bear, thanked May for her thirteen years of contributions to the company's creation, growth and success (Deadline). May herself said she is excited to move forward and pursue other passions after helping build Elevation into a top Canadian distribution company.
Her record in the industry predates Elevation. May received the Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Outstanding Achievement Award in 2010 and acted as a mentor for the organisation (Deadline). Before launching Elevation, she co-founded and served as co-president of Maple Pictures, a Canadian film distributor.
Elevation arrives at this transition with a full slate. Its 14 titles at this September's Toronto festival include Fjord, All of a Sudden, The Debut and Club Kid (Deadline). The company also continues to benefit from an L.A.-based acquisitions operation run by Heimler, who serves as President, Production & Acquisitions (Deadline).
Co-President Noah Segal remains in place. May's departure does not come with an announced replacement, and the company has not publicly detailed how her responsibilities will be divided.
For a distributor that has built its identity on festival acquisitions and awards-season releases, losing a co-founder ahead of a packed Toronto lineup is a genuine shift in the organisational chart — even if the films on screen this September will still carry the Elevation logo that May helped establish.
